


A Warm Breath from the Mountains

by Quepasta, Warmebrisevommeer



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BotW 2, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, POV Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Post-Breath of the Wild, Teen Romance, Zelda - Freeform, Zelink Week, link - Freeform, link x zelda - Freeform, post calamity, zelda x link, zelink, zelink fanfic, zelink fic, zelink post calamity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28058094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quepasta/pseuds/Quepasta, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warmebrisevommeer/pseuds/Warmebrisevommeer
Summary: A series of short stories about Link and Zelda after the events of Breath of the Wild. The series follows them as they explore their new world and what they mean to each other. Some of the biggest challenges they will face will be their mental health and the aftermath of the calamity. I (QuePasta) write Zelda's POV and Warmebrisevommeer writes Link's POV. Both POV's are posted on both of our accounts.
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	1. Facing the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic that I have published in a long time and my first Legend of Zelda fic. I have had so much writing this with Warmebrisevommeer and seeing our different writing styles and ideas turn into a story. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read our work. Thank you!

I followed behind him as we traversed through the heavy snow, the wind howling in our faces. Between the elixirs and the snowquill armor we both wore, I hardly registered the cold anymore. Or perhaps it was the exhaustion from running and climbing all day that prevented me from feeling the icy crystals that peppered my skin. 

Link walked slowly but steadily ahead of me, his face was hidden by the hylian hood he adorned. Even though I couldn’t see his face I knew his eyes were darting every which way, always on the lookout for danger. I knew with each step he checked the ground for stability, pressing his foot down to check for traction. And I also knew that he was listening to my steps in case I started to slip, ready to catch me when I eventually would. 

Forcing myself to match my pace to his and stepping in his footprints where I knew it was safe, I kept up as much as I possibly could. We were on the south side of the Hebra Mountains, our original destination being Biron Snowshelf. But now it was any sort of shelter we could find. I cursed myself again under my breath, it was my fault we were in the mountains anyway. Link and I had planned to head to Rito Village to investigate Vah Medoh, when I had made an offhand comment that I had never been to the Hebra Mountains. Before I knew it, Link had started leading us towards them.

The Hebra Mountains were a favorite of Link’s, I knew that from before the Calamity. He never really told me why he favored them, but I assumed I would find that out on our trip. We were making great time until the blizzard hit. We had been discussing what our plans were after we were done at Rito Village while walking through the still winter landscape when the wind suddenly picked up. Link had turned towards the direction of the wind, peering into the winter sky when he saw the approaching storm. He had let out a small gasp and then quickly walked over to me, tucked my own hylian hood into my snowquill jacket and tightened the hood around my face. Then he pulled out a cold resistance elixir and instructed me to drink it right before the blizzard hit us. I nodded and we ran towards the mountains, hoping the peaks would provide protection from the wind. 

The blizzard hit us earlier than we had originally thought it would. But I followed Link’s instructions and swallowed the elixir right before we were engulfed in the storm, making sure Link did the same. I wasn’t sure how long we had been trudging through the snow, but it was definitely a few hours. Link had stopped twice to hand me another elixir to drink, but besides that we had been trudging on trying to outrun the storm.

Suddenly I bumped into Link’s back, not realizing he had stopped. He reached his left arm back to steady me, but didn’t say anything. I stayed silent as well, watching Link as he turned his head slowly from left to right. He kept his eyes on something in the distance, but I couldn’t see through the snowflakes whipping around. Subconsciously I leaned into his touch, feeling the warmth of his body next to mine. Link didn’t seem to notice as he studied the landscape, staying silent. 

Shaking his head, he turned around to face me while keeping his movements slow and deliberate. He then reached out his gloved hand. “Sheikah Slate.” he yelled. Even though he was right next to me, I could hardly hear him over the wind. I nodded and grabbed the sheikah slate from my hip and pressed it into his hand. 

I huddled closer to him as he opened up the map to check our location. We had been on the north side of the Kopeeki Drifts when the storm began. Now the sheikah slate showed our location to be just north of the Hebra Headspring, in the valley between Hebra and Talonto Peaks. 

I sighed as I realized we hadn’t made it far at all. The snow and wind were disorientating and hard to traverse through. I felt my frustration grow more as the thought occurred to me that I was definitely slowing us down. The weather was slowing Link down as well, but I knew he could go faster than the pace we had been at. I however was struggling to keep up.

“I’m sorry, Zelda. I should have made us turn around when the storm came in. I did not believe the blizzard would last this long.” He said, closing his eyes in frustration. 

“It’s okay, Link.” I said, resting a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes when he felt my hand and stared at it for a few moments. “I can keep going. Are we getting close to a safe place?” I asked, redirecting his energy to the task at hand. I preferred that he didn’t blame himself for our treacherous situation. 

“There is a civilian who lives in these mountains. Her name is Selmie, she acts as a guide for travelers through here. She’s also rather competitive about shield surfing.” He smirked. “But she has a cabin north of this valley. She...there’s a shrine right outside of her cabin. You should use the Sheikah Slate to fast travel there.” He turned his face toward mine, his blue eyes squinting from the wind. 

I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I knew it was the smart decision, I could fast travel to the shrine and Link could run ahead to meet me there. It would only take him half a day on a normal day. As I pondered the suggestion, I raised my eyes to the skies above us. The valley blocked a lot of the wind, but it was still roaring strong and angrily in our faces. If we kept going we would have to climb to higher ground eventually, where the wind and snow would be harder to travel through. If I traveled to Selmie’s, Link would be left alone in this storm. As the thought crossed my mind, I felt my heart pound and my breath catch in my throat. No, I would not leave him again. 

“No, Link. I’m not leaving you alone in this storm. We will get through this together. Look, we aren’t even that far.” I responded, pointing to the peak with “Selmie’s Spot” on the map. 

Link stared back at me, his jaw moving as he thought about what to do. “Over 100 years, and you’re still as stubborn as before.” He muttered, his tone slightly annoyed. But the edges of his mouth curved slightly into a smile that he tried to hide. “After these cliffs, there’s a hollow up ahead that we will have to glide over, are you okay with that?” He turned his head to the side. 

The smile that had appeared on my face when he called me stubborn disappeared as he mentioned gliding. There was nothing I despised more than gliding as the last time we had tried it flashed through my mind, but I knew Link would not have mentioned it if there was another way. At this point I would do anything to get out of this storm, so I nodded yes to Link even though my stomach lurched at the idea of being airborne. 

“Onward, then.” He said, while nodding his head north. He handed the sheikah slate back to me and turned around to start walking again. His footsteps were a little faster this time, but still as careful as before. However, this time he kept his left arm reaching backward towards me. Each time my leg would tap his arm he took it as a sign to keep walking. A light blush fell across my face as I realized he was making sure I was still keeping up with him, afraid to lose me in this snow. 

As we walked, my mind wandered back to Link’s comment about me being stubborn. I sucked in a breath when I realized that he didn’t fight me more on fast traveling, which was not like him at all. It could only have been because this storm scared Link, but he wasn’t going to say it outright. He didn’t want to be left behind. 

Soon we ran into the end of the valley, the side of the mountain towering over us. Link started following the mountainside west and we eventually came across some boulders that had fallen from the overhang. They provided an easier way to climb out of the valley instead of scaling the entire cliffside. I was silently relieved, knowing that I wouldn’t have been able to climb up the sheer cliff. While the shelves the boulders made were almost twice as tall as me, they were covered in indents and roots that would make it easier to climb. 

Link went first, jumping up the first one with ease and barely a grunt of effort. He used the force of his leap to propel himself over the shelf. Once at the top he turned around and motioned for me to follow him, with a mischievous smirk on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing what that face was about. Link had always been competitive for as long as I had known him. And his 100 year sleep definitely had not changed that. 

Deciding to play along, I took a step back and took a running leap, aiming for the top of the first boulder. I landed with two-thirds of my body over the ledge, but I quickly found an indent in the rock below to push myself over the rest of the way. I scrambled to stand up, brushing the snow off. Knowing I probably looked clumsy in comparison to Link’s agile ascent, but couldn’t help feeling proud of myself for making it without any help.

I turned to look at Link, and saw a smile of approval on his face. My heart soared, that smile had been so rare before everything happened. But it was so prevalent now, that I often forgot about the treacherous life we led. And even though we were also in danger in the middle of this blizzard, I was enjoying this trip together. 

Shooting me one last glimpse of his smile, Link turned around and crawled up the second cliff. This one was the same height as the last one, but had more tree roots poking through the ground. While Link used the same strategy of using the momentum of his leap to launch him up the next cliff, I decided to take advantage of the extra foot and hand holds. Not waiting for Link to finish his climb, I grabbed on to the nearest root and began pulling myself up. The bitter cold ate through my gloves and my hands stung, but adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I felt free in the way I only felt when adventuring out with Link. Out here I wasn’t the fabled Princess with the Golden Power, here I was just a girl trying to win a race.

When I got to the top, Link was peering down the other side of the cliff, his head turning back and forth looking for me. It seemed he hadn’t seen me change course heading in the other direction. 

“What are you looking for?” I called out to him, putting my best smirk on.

He spun around, his eyes wide before squinting as he focused in on me.

“Oh, we’re being tricky now? You’re lucky I still don’t have Revali’s Gale. You would never catch up with me then.” He walked toward me until he stood right in front of me. I had to look up at him now to be able to see his eyes, blue as ever. When I first met him, he had been a few inches shorter than me. 100 years later, when we walked away from the castle after sealing away Ganon, I had noticed that he had grown to be the same height as me. But now over the past couple of months, he had continued to grow to be a full head taller than me.

“You wouldn’t leave me.” I said, my voice wavering as I suddenly felt nervous.

Link stared back at me, his eyes searching my face for something. He was always checking on me, always looking for something to be wrong so he could fix it.

“No, Zelda. I would never.” His voice was soft, and I barely heard it over the roar of the wind. He turned to look at the last cliff and leaned down so that his face was hovering over my ear, which was still covered by my hood. 

“Do you think you can make it up the last one by yourself?” He teased, he was so close I could feel the edge of his mouth curve upward as he spoke.

Without even looking back at him, I took off towards the cliff. I heard him laugh as I did so, and I was glad once again for my hood as it hid the crazy grin I had. My eyes searched for places in the cliff that I could use for support. This one was taller, probably three times my height. But that wasn’t the issue, the problem with this one was that there were fewer roots and indents to grab onto. My mind worked to pick out the best place to start my climb. I went off to the right where there was a good root to step up on and let the adrenaline and pure joy I felt take me the rest of the way. 

I heard more than saw Link scramble past me, which was fine. I wasn’t expecting to beat him, but I wanted to be a close second. Almost at the top, I saw Link peer over the edge again, his eyebrows raised in a “I won” sort of expression. I wrinkled my nose back up at him, but focused on climbing the rest of the way. My legs were resting on small indents in the cliff, and my left hand was hanging onto a tree root. Just out of reach of my right hand was a handhold that would get me the rest of the way up. I bent my legs slightly, readying them to make the little jump to reach the handhold. I took a deep breath and pushed, kicking my legs as hard as I could while reaching my hand out towards the handhold.

My heart stopped when I saw my hand barely miss the hold and I started falling back down and I let out a scream. Instinct kicked in and my left hand grabbed the root it had been holding earlier, but that was the only thing that kept me from falling all the way back down the valley. 

I hit the side of the cliff with a thud and had the wind knocked out of me. I grabbed the root with my right hand as well and dared not to move, the tiny tendril of root being my only life line. My arms were shaking and my side began to hurt where it collided with the cliff. But I was okay, and I felt tears escape my eyes as I leaned my forehead against the side of the cliff. Trying to regain my strength and my breath, it took me a moment to realize Link was calling my name.

“Zelda! Damnit, Zelda answer me!” He yelled, his voice almost a growl. 

“I’m okay.” I tried to yell back, but it was a weak reply with my breath still gone. I heard Link answer with a sigh of relief and then heard the sound of him pacing back and forth on the cliff above me. I looked up, I was just out of view from him because of the snow fall. He couldn’t reach me yet from where I was and I knew he was frustrated with not being able to help me.

After another minute I felt that I could breathe normally again and I knew I needed to start going soon before my limbs gave out. Climbing up, I kept telling myself that I was almost to the top. Soon I could make Link’s outline against the sky. 

“Zelda!” He said while falling to his knees and stretching his arm out as far as he could. I reached my right arm out, pushing myself up with my left arm that was wrapped around a tree root. My gloves skimmed the fingertips of his when the root I was resting on gave out. I screamed as I began falling again and closed my eyes, this time too exhausted for any instincts to kick in. 

But then I stopped falling. I opened my eyes and saw Link’s hand wrapped around my wrist, gripping it in a painfully tight grasp. As soon as I realized Link had me, the small part of my brain still working told my feet to find a foothold to relieve some of my weight off of Link. My readjustment gave Link the opportunity to secure his footing and he began pulling me up.

My head was clouded from the shock of almost falling twice and my limbs felt numb. All I could do was not move so he wouldn't lose his balance. As he finally pulled me over the edge, I felt my muscles spring back to life and push forward away from the cliff. Link also pushed us away from the cliff as I landed in his arms. He kept retreating until his back was against the mountain, far away from the cliffside.

My whole body felt numb, except for the warmth coming off his body. I closed my eyes and buried my face into his shoulder. I stayed like that for a while, just focusing on the feeling of his arms around me. It took me a moment to realize I was sobbing and shaking with every gasp of air. Link was rubbing my back and repeating “I’m sorry” and “You’re okay now”. I tightened my hold on him and just focused on the sound of his voice rumbling in my ear. 

After a while I started to feel myself calm down. Then the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment and anger at myself started to wash over me. We had been having fun before I went and ruined it. Link was always doing so much for me, how did he not get tired of saving me every five minutes? The Great Princess Zelda, savior of Hyrule and sealer of Ganon, almost dies climbing a measly cliff!

The thought caused me to laugh out loud. It’s a messy laugh, layered with my tears and snot. But as I laugh, I felt Link relax a little bit under me. He moved one hand to the side of my face and gently pulls my head up so that we face each other. He wiped a tear away and brushed a couple of stray hairs out of my face. Then Link raised one of his eyebrows in a question, wanting to know what caused me to laugh. I shake my head at him, indicating I wasn’t ready to talk yet. 

He gave me a little nod, and I felt a small bubble of happiness in my chest as we fall into our old habit, talking to each other without speaking. It was something we had perfected a long time ago. But I had been afraid it would change after 100 years. My soul jumped with glee to see that it hadn’t. 

“Maybe I should have teleported to Selmie’s, it would have saved quite a bit of trouble for you.” I finally said, looking down out of embarrassment. Link grunted in disapproval, but before he could respond I continued. “I was slowing us down before and now I’ve nearly gotten both of us killed. And it’s my fault that-”

Link cut me off. “Zelda, for Goddesses sake. At least let me have a moment to celebrate the fact that you’re alive instead of being unconscious at the bottom of the cliff before starting an argument with me.” He scoffed, but his tone was still soft. 

My breath caught in my throat again as he placed his forehead against mine, eyes closed. Both of his arms are wrapped around my waist again, holding me against him. He was right, there was no point in arguing now. 

The wind howled around us as we sat there. The loose part of my hood was flapping around threatening to take off any second. For a second I let myself believe that if I didn’t hold on tight enough to Link, I would be blown away with it into the storm. 

“Let’s try to get out of this cold.” Link finally whispered into my cheek. I nodded and untangled myself from him, feeling the loss of warmth from him instantly. 

Link stood up as well and brushed the snow off his legs. He gave me a quick look, making sure I was ready to go. I tightened my hood around my face and gave him another nod. Link stared at me a little longer, then decided to grab my hand and started leading the way north. 

I kept my grip on his hand tight and he did the same, feeling another wave of blush make its way across my face. Soon, our path led us to a pretty large covered tunnel. It looked like something had carved through the mountain and went all the way through. The way the tunnel was angled, the inside was completely safe from the wind. We stepped inside the entrance, the fading light from outside still enough to see the whole thing. 

Link let go of my hand and motioned for me to stay. Then he crept further into the tunnel, checking everywhere for any danger. There was a stray ice keese that screeched before he shot it down with his bow, but other than that the tunnel was empty. 

“It’s not perfect, but it will protect us for the night. Are you okay with us staying here? You need to rest.” Link said, slinging his bow over his shoulder as he walked back. 

I wanted to tell him I could keep going, that I was fine and if we hurried we could make it to Selmie’s before the sun set completely. But it would have been a lie, I was exhausted. My bones and muscles ached, and I was worried about the loss of feeling in my toes. And I was shaking, but I was not certain if it was from the cold or from my almost fall. 

“Yes. That will be good.” I sighed, feeling my eyes start to feel heavy with sleep. 

Link started pulling supplies out of his pack. He had told me a couple of weeks ago that a korok had enchanted it to hold more things than should have been possible. It had definitely made it easier to trek through the snow without a huge pack to carry. 

Soon Link had set up a makeshift lean-to and laid a bed roll down under it. I narrowed my eyes at the one bed roll, realizing he wasn’t planning on sleeping. I walked over to where he was smoothing a blanket out. 

“You need to sleep too.” I squatted by him, putting my hand lightly on his arm. He turned to look at me, his jaw clenching as he thought it over. It was then I saw his eyelids were drooping, he was tired. Eventually he pulled another bed roll out and more blankets. But he set this one up against the wall of the tunnel at the entrance of the lean-to he made. 

He then motioned for me to sit on my bed roll. I sat down on the soft fur blanket, wanting to instantly sink all the way into it and sleep forever. But before I could follow through on that thought, Link handed me a paper wrapped parcel. My mouth started instantly watering as I smelled the food through the paper. Oh Goddesses, I had forgotten about food entirely. I preferred the hot and fresh meals Link usually made, but I knew that was not an option given our current situation. Still, the cold mushroom rice ball tasted like heaven and it took everything in me not to eat all in one bite. 

I watched as Link slid into the lean-to and sat on his bed roll. He wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and leaned against the wall of the tunnel. Then he pulled out a matching package to the one he handed me and started eating his rice ball. He took big deliberate bites and was finished within seconds. I laughed as I watched him, his eating habits were always interesting to watch. 

He stopped when he realized I was laughing at him. But then he grinned as he wiped his mouth. “I thought I told you that you can’t judge me for how I eat anymore.” 

“Old habits die hard, I suppose.” I shrugged, running my still gloved hand over the blanket under me. 

Link rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else. He leaned back against the wall again and stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing them at his ankles. Then he cleared his throat and crossed his arms. This is what I considered to be his “sleeping but still on guard” position. I watched as he stared out the tunnel, listening and watching for any danger. While I appreciated it, I was pretty sure we were the only ones in the mountains right now. 

I felt my exhaustion fill my limbs again and decided to lay down to settle in for the night. Laying down, my legs were sticking slightly out of the other side of the lean-to, and my head was about an arm’s length or two from where Link sat. Between the snowquill outfit I still wore and the blankets, I was completely warm. Feeling had started to return to my toes and fingers. Sleep threatened to take over, but I fought it a little longer. The tunnel was now dark as night time fell outside. I could still see Link’s outline in the dark, but everything else was lost in the night. 

“Link?” I whispered. I felt him twitch a little bit when I spoke, he must have almost been dozing off himself. 

“Sorry, I just wanted to say thank you. For, um well, everything.” I whispered again, feeling bad I had woken him up.

“Of course, Princess. Sleep well.” He responded. Then I felt him reach down and give my hand a little squeeze. It was a quick movement, so quick that it almost felt like I imagined it. And if it had not been for the newly returned feeling in my hands, I would have assumed that I had imagined it. I let my face break into a huge grin, before I finally let sleep takeover. 

The next morning I woke up in the same way I fell asleep in. My bones and muscles ached from the day before and from sleeping in one position all night. Getting myself to want to wake up was proving to be difficult, my bed roll was so warm and my eyes were still heavy with sleep. But I forced myself to try to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I looked up and saw that Link was still sleeping, his head tilted to the side to lay on his shoulder. His arms were still crossed at his chest and his legs still crossed at the ankles. 

Some of his blonde hair had fallen to lay across his face and more of it had fallen out of his hair band to lay on his shoulders. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to move the hair out of his face. He really was quite a beautiful man. His quiet demeanor and determination often hardened his features when he was awake. But now that he was asleep, his face looked young and innocent. He looked like the 19 year old he was. Or I guess 119 year old? 

My heart ached for him. Before the calamity he had been so troubled. But back then he still had his memories of his childhood, of his family and his home. Now, those memories were fuzzy in his mind at best, if they were even there at all. I still wasn’t sure how much he actually remembered. How much of us did he remember? 

I had been trying not to think about the time before Ganon. The darkest day of my life was not one I wished to revisit. However, I know eventually I will have to. There is no moving on without coming face to face with what happened. I felt the familiar panic rise in my chest as the events from the day flickered through my mind. Tears threatened to run down my face as my hands began to shake.

I can see my life before Ganon’s return. At the time I thought I was miserable being stuck in the castle destined to wield a power I had no idea how to harness. However, the brightest memories from back then are the ones I remember the most. The ones with Link. The ones where we traveled Hyrule alone, roaming the countryside in between our errands. I knew he cared for me back then, but I always wondered if it had been more for him too. Back then we had so much weight on our shoulders, there was no room to even entertain the idea of something more between Link and I. And now, so much has changed since then. Did he even remember, remember more than just his duty?

And here I sit in a tunnel with him after all this time, still wondering about my silent knight. Still roaming the country with him, a question on my lips. Oh goddess, is that what I was doing? Trying to recreate our life from back then by suggesting we explore the mountains? 

And I felt it here too in the mountains. This “thing” between us. I wanted to examine it, ask Link the questions that haunted me while I sat in the castle for 100 years. I wanted to know that I wasn’t crazy. That it wasn’t just me. 

But courage was not my strength, that was his. Mine was wisdom, and my brain told me to be a smart girl and not ruin things. We were both still healing from everything. While our friends and family had fallen 100 years, it was still fresh for us both. And while we eventually came out successful, our initial failures were wounds that would not heal for a long time. So how could I add one more thing into the mixture? Confess my feelings and scare off the one person left from my old life? I couldn’t lose him, not again. So bite my tongue, I will. 

After fighting with my inner monologue and panic , I was wide awake. After another moment of trying to slow down my breathing I decided to get up. I slowly sat up, trying to be as quiet as possible. But Link, always on watch even when sleeping, woke up anyway. He looked around, wide-eyed at first as he tried to remember where he was. Then I saw his eyes relax as he recalled where we were. He glanced over at me and gave a sleepy smile. 

“Well, good morning sleepy head.” He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. 

The image of him yawning sleepily while rubbing his eyes awake and then stretching his arms out in a yawn was too much. The little warm butterflies in my stomach returned as I watched him. 

“I beg your pardon Sir Knight, but I was up first.” I corrected him. 

He smiled again as he stretched out his legs, and gave me an eye roll, as if to say “sure,”. Then he reached into his pack and pulled out a water pouch, then held it out to me. I stared at it for a second, once again reminded that this man did everything for me. I wasn’t even thinking of water and hadn’t realized how thirsty I was.

“Thank you.” I said before taking a couple of sips. 

Truthfully I wanted to gulp it down and refill it to drink it all again. But that wasn’t very lady like and I wasn’t sure how much water Link had packed. As if on cue, Link pulled out another water pouch and drank from it, taking large gulps until it was empty. He gave me another look, as if to dare me to say something again about his etiquette. Instead I took another sip from my pouch while obviously forcing my eyes to look somewhere else, pretending I didn’t see. But I couldn’t keep a straight face and let out a little snort, which caused me to spill some of my water. 

My face red with embarrassment I looked over at Link to see if he noticed and knew that he had. But he was beaming at me, his face filled with a wide grin. He shook his head slightly while he laughed, his voice filling the tunnel. 

“That is what you get for making fun of me.” He choked out while laughing. 

“I was trying not to!” I told him, with a fake pout on my face. But I couldn’t hide my smile entirely. 

He made a “tsk” sound with his teeth and went to hand me another parcel of food. “I’m not really sure you deserve this after being so mean.” And for emphasis, he pulled the package back when I went to reach for it. 

I raised an eyebrow at him and tried to give a menacing stare back. While it didn’t work, he handed me the parcel anyway. Unfolding the paper, I opened it to find a mix of fruit, nuts, and bread. I popped one of the berries in my mouth and bit it, humming as the sweet taste trickled over my tongue. Fruit was one of my favorite treats ever and I was delighted at having the treat for breakfast. 

However, guilt began to eat away at my stomach again. When did Link have time to do all this? I don’t remember seeing him pack this much before we left, especially considering this was a last minute detour. Over and over I had been telling him thank you, but it just never felt like enough. I wanted to do something for him, I just didn’t know what. 

“Link?” I asked, uncertain of what I was planning on saying. He looked up from where he was about to dig into his own parcel, his eyebrows raising at my voice. “I’ve been thinking. I want to start helping out with cooking our food and other preparations for our trips. You do everything and… I don’t know how to do anything useful.”

The corner of Link’s mouth curved up a little bit. “I don’t know if having you cook is the best idea. My memory might not be all there, but I do recall a time when you tried to feed me a whole frog.”

“That was for a study! And I’m serious, Link. You do everything for me and all I can do is say thank you, but that’s not enough!” I replied, dropping the smile on my face. 

Link looked down at his meal parcel, fidgeting with the edge of the paper. I could almost read the expression on his face, he much rather be scarfing down the food than talking about this. 

“You have done plenty.” He finally said. “You were in a century long battle with our land’s greatest enemy. You saved all of Hyrule and restored hope to your people. Is that not enough? After all that, surely you deserve to be taken care of. Is that not my job?” 

“The same thing could be said of you, Link. You also saved Hyrule. Do you not deserve to rest? And your job _was_ to protect me and help me seal Ganon. You have accomplished that. Now you are my friend, not my caregiver.” I said shortly. “Come on. Please? We can start with something simple, like cooking lessons!” I said lighter this time, my goal was not to start a fight. 

He studied the ground for a long time, his jaw shifting as he mulled over what I said. It was a habit he did often, along with grinding his teeth when he was in thought. The silence lasted longer than I wanted. The conversation had gone deeper than I had meant it to. Since our successful battle with the calamity, we hadn’t really talked about any of it. This was as close we had gotten. It was a subject we couldn’t bear to talk about without unraveling everything. The panic began to seep through my chest again, my breath catching in my throat as I fought it back down. I felt myself bite my lip harder as each quiet second passed. 

“Fine. When we get out of these mountains, I will try to teach you how to cook. I trust you are still a quick study?” He finally lifted his eyes to look at me, those blue pools twinkling. 

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Of course! Thank you, Link. You will not regret it!” I squealed, surprised I had convinced him. 

“But, just so we are on the same page. I am still your knight, my job is still to protect you. Even if I am also your friend.” His face went back to being stern, the almost blank face that was his signature look. 

I rolled my eyes at him, always so serious about his duty as my appointed knight. I opened my mouth to respond but Link was already pouring his food from his parcel directly into his mouth. I decided to drop whatever I was going to say and finish my food as well.

Later that morning we had packed everything away and bundled back up. Walking out of the tunnel I was relieved to see that the blizzard had ended its rage on the mountains. The morning was quite beautiful, a light snow was falling across the landscape. Everything was quiet and still except for the small scuttling of the winter wildlife that were hidden from our site. It was a rather drastic change from the weather we faced last night. 

We began walking up the steep slope that led north out of the tunnel. The incline was a little slippery and every once in a while I would slide backwards, but every time Link moved to help me back up I would find my footing again. I was determined not to need him to help me every step of the way. It was nothing against Link, hoping he knew that. But the feeling that I was a burden on these trips had been eating away at me lately. Surely I could walk in the snow on my own? 

Eventually the slope leveled out into a clearing at the edge of a cliff. The view was even more breathtaking from up here. Morning light filtered by the clouds and the snow pooled into the mountains, turning everything an icy white. The snow twinkled in the light, _Good Morning_ it almost seemed to say. The gray spires of the mountains jutted into the sky, frosted with the falling snow. Cedar and pine trees poked out of the rocky ground, staking their claim on the rough terrain. The overhang we were on was surprisingly lush, patches of grass and herbs grew among the snow covered bushes. 

I looked over at Link, his hood was down as he also took in the landscape. His cheeks were rosy from the cold, his hair still a bit messy, but his eyes were wide in awe. And I suddenly knew why these mountains were his favorite. They were like him. They were quiet and serene, still but with so much life. Hidden away from most except for those who went looking. Fierce when they needed to be. And beautiful. Insanely beautiful. They were like Link. 

“This is ... gorgeous.” I gasped. 

“It is.” Link smiled, not taking his eyes off the landscape.

“The start of the trip might have been rough, but this was worth it.” I whispered into the frosty air. 

Link turned around then, relief falling over his face. “I’m glad you think that. This trip did not really go how I wanted it to and I was worried you weren’t enjoying it.” 

I wanted to ask him how he wanted the trip to go, what he meant by that. To poke at the _thing_ that lingered in the air sometimes. But I didn’t. “So what? I nearly fell off a cliff twice. Not a big deal, actually. Especially when your own appointed knight is there to save you.”

“Well, hopefully that means you’re okay with gliding over these cliffs. The blizzard is gone but we are so close to Selmie’s, we might as well stop by.” Link concurred. 

“Let’s do it.” I tried to put on my most convincing smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

Link chuckled and pulled out his paraglider, then reached out for my hand. I took it and let him pull me closer until I was standing beside him. My right side against his left side, our arms fell to each other’s waists. The configurement we had to create to be able to paraglide with two people was a little complicated. I tried to focus on remembering what to do and not be distracted by his hip against mine or his arms around my waist. I double checked that the sheikah slate was secure and then grabbed on to my side of the paraglider. 

Side by side, we walked closer to the cliff edge. Instantly my mind thought about yesterday and almost falling down the mountain. But I shook the thought from my mind and concentrated on keeping my form while gliding. I started going through the checklist Link had gone through with me last time. Keep your hold on the handle, do not let go. Keep your grip on each other, lean your body weight towards the middle to help. Keep most of your weight in your legs. Deep breaths and calm thoughts. 

“Remember, pull down on the glider to steer it one way or the other. I might need your help if the wind picks up.” Link said, and then gave me a look to see if I was ready. 

I nodded and before I could change my mind I started running with him towards the edge of the cliff. We jumped off and I felt my stomach fall as my feet left the ground. I kept a tight grip on my handle and my right arm was wrapped around Link’s hip, leaning towards him as much as I could without off-balancing the glider. 

And then we were gliding! I let out a squeal, unsure if it was out of excitement or joy. I leaned my face into Link’s shoulder to hide it from the wind, but peaked at the landscape from a squinted eye. The air carried us up over the hollow below and Link steered us to the next overhang. The view up here was amazing too, endless mountains and snow was all I could see. 

We were in the air for maybe 30 seconds before we started to descend and land on the next cliff. Landing was my least favorite part, but this time I knew what to expect. Our feet hitting the ground with a thud, we actually did great. My legs gave out the second I hit the ground and I took Link down with me. 

I laughed as I felt us hit the snow, rolling a few times. The rolling caused me to be slightly disoriented, but once I could see again I realized how fun that had been. The first time we tried gliding together it had been for a longer stretch and I had been too nervous to enjoy it. However a quick glide like proved to be enjoyable.

Link and I were laying on our backs in the snow, the paraglider in Link’s right hand. He was looking over at me, checking to see if I was okay. I smiled back while laughing, the adrenaline once again pumping through my veins. He laughed too after he realized I was fine. I stared up at the sky, watching the snowflakes flutter down to the ground. I couldn’t get over how absolutely stunning it was here. 

I turned back to Link who was still watching me. His left arm was under my back, still around my waist and I felt the warmth of his body. We laid side by side in the snow, our breath creating a smoke like haze above us. It was so calm, so peaceful. I couldn’t help but think I wanted to stay in this moment forever. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but then I saw the snowflakes getting caught in Link’s eyelashes. I realized I was rather close to his face, closer than I should have been. Not willing to risk the kind of thoughts I would have if I stayed laying down, I cleared my throat and sat up. 

“Well that wasn’t too bad. Actually, it was kind of fun. “ I said while Link also sat up. 

“Good, because we have one more area to glide over before we get to Selmie’s.” Link replied. He stood up and rubbed the back of his neck while looking at the ground. Then closed his eyes for a moment. As soon as I was about to ask if something was wrong, he opened them again. Then he smiled and held out a gloved hand to help me up. 

Once we were both up we again got into position and took off over the cliff. I laughed in delight again as we flew through the air. It was so freeing to be flying in the mountains! I imagined I was one of the dragon spirits, gliding through Hyrule. Watching over it as I made my rounds across the land. I heard Link laugh beside me, his laugh shaking his body and echoing across the cliffs. Closing my eyes, I let the sound of his laugh take me somewhere else. Somewhere where we didn’t have the pressures of our destinies on us. Somewhere where we could be as free as we were right now, forever. 

But our flight came to an end too soon, and we landed with a thud again. This time I managed not to take Link down with me and I only fell to my knees. The fleeting feeling of that moment knocked the wind out of me more than our landing did. I stood up and turned around, taking in the scenery again. The memory of Link’s laugh earlier still ringing in my ears. I realized that I had heard him laugh more on this trip more than I had ever before. 

“Are you okay?” Link’s voice cut through my thoughts. 

I turned to him, not hearing what he said at first. My eyes were drawn to the concerned look on his face, the slight tip of his head to the side in a question. The blue in his eyes contrasting against the white snow behind him, begging for all of my attention.

“Oh, yes. I was just looking at the view again.” I said, realizing my words had a hidden meaning. I blushed, hoping it would look like cold turned my face red.

Link gave a small nod in agreement and folded up the paraglider. We both started walking up the slope that cut through the edge of the mountain, heading towards a small tendril of smoke cutting through the air in the distance. It must be Selmie’s cabin, and it looked close! I started to get giddy at the idea of warming up inside and resting for a bit. 

Suddenly Link stopped and stared up at something on the cliffside above us. Then his face broke into a grin, his eyes twinkling with an idea. 

“Wait here.” He said. Before I could ask what he was doing, he started climbing up the cliff. 

I watched as he climbed up, wondering what in the name of Hylia he was doing. He seemed to find footholes and places to hold on that didn’t exist. I remembered watching him from the castle, as he roamed around Hyrule after waking up. Everytime he would decide to climb a mountain or a building, I wanted to yell at him for being so reckless. But his ability to climb was really unlike anything I had ever seen. 

I heard him say something from above, it sounded like a yell of triumph but the words didn’t reach me as he was too high up. He started to make his way down, only using one hand with something in his hand. Was he showing off now? As soon as I thought about calling him out on it, a gust of wind swept through the hollow. I felt myself stumble as the wind pushed past me. 

Then I heard Link gasp and I looked up in time to see him lose his balance as the wind pushed against him. His hand reached out for a place to grib, but it missed. The next few moments happened so fast that when Link’s body hit the ground I wasn’t sure what happened at first. Then my brain caught up. I flinched as I remembered seeing him fall, his shoulder hitting the mountain, then his back hit a rock, his side making contact next. Each time sounded painful, did I hear something snap? Did I see him hit his head? 

Next thing I knew I was kneeling on the ground next to him, pulling him into my lap. My heart started pounding and my hands were shaking as this felt all too familiar. I couldn’t breathe, my lungs suddenly losing the ability to function. I stared at him, frozen as I relived the last time I held him while he was unconscious.

I heard them. The mechanical grinding of the guardians. The sound of their blasts as they destroyed my kingdom. The sound of the one that had aimed itself at Link. Myself yelling “No!” as I pushed Link out of the way. The sound of his body hitting the ground that time, as he lost the battle to stay awake. The look on his face as the life left his body, the sorrow he felt as he knew his fight was over. Then the cough he let out as the light in his eyes faded, closing them for what I had thought was the last time. 

I saw it all again. The worst moment of my life, helpless as Link died in my arms. 

I shook my head, pushing it all away. I wasn’t helpless this time. _Focus, Zelda! You have to do something!_

My hands shook as I began looking Link over. I silently sent a prayer of thankfulness back to my old tutors, glad they had made me study anatomy. His eyes were closed, completely still. I put my fingers to his neck, and was relieved to feel his pulse. _Good, that’s good._ I told myself. He had a gash on his forehead, which was bleeding moderately. _I could bandage that up though._

I gasped though as I saw the state of his right shoulder. I could see the bulge of bone through his clothes. My fingers trembling, I undid the ties on his armor to look at it. Luckily, the bone hadn’t pushed through his skin. His shoulder was just dislocated. _That could be fixed._ Then I moved down to his ribs, and pressed against his sides. Link let out a yelp in response. 

I sighed as I knew his ribs were at least bruised, if not broken. _Those can heal though,_ I said to myself. I tied up his rito armor again and set Link carefully back on the ground. I quickly checked his legs and feet, but they appeared to be fine. He would probably have some bruises, but nothing serious. 

It was not until after checking his legs that I noticed what he had in his left hand. I gasped, as I stared at the silent princess still gripped in his fist. _Link! You idiot!_ I wanted to yell at him. All of that for a flower, a stupid flower. _My favorite flower_. What was it doing up here? They didn’t usually grow well in colder climates. 

I bit my lip and I pulled it out of his hand. He had gotten it for me. He had fallen down the cliff and gotten hurt for me. I twirled the flower in my fingers, feeling the rubbery stem prick at my skin. I pulled the paper parcel from my breakfast this morning out of my pocket and wrapped the flower in it. Part of me wanted to curse at it, stomp it into the ground with my boots. Yell at it for making Link climb up and retrieve it. 

But I wrapped it up instead because he had wanted me to have it. The flower didn't deserve the anger I felt toward it. I looked back at Link, looking him over once again. I was pretty confident I could reset his shoulder and bandage the wound on his forehead. However, I needed to get him out of the cold first. Turning my face toward the skyline, I saw the smoke from what I assumed was Selmie’s cabin. It couldn’t be that far. Working quickly, I pulled one of the sturdier blankets out from Link’s pack and spread out beside him. Then as gently as I could, I pulled Link over so that he laid on top of it. 

Then I began pulling him up the slope, going slow enough not to jostle him around too much but still going quickly to get him inside as soon as possible. I felt tears falling down my cheeks as I pulled my knight up the mountain, but I ignored them. I ignored the panic rising in my chest and focused on the determination I felt instead. I would not fail him!

Soon I saw the roof of Selmie’s cabin peak out from the horizon, and the sight brought new energy to my aching muscles. The last stretch seemed to take hours to cross, although it could have been no more than ten minutes. Finally we reached the door of the cabin and I saw a note on the door fluttering in the wind. I squinted my eyes as I leaned in to read it. 

_Gone for a couple of days, feel free to warm up inside! -Selmie_

Selmie wasn’t here. Which was probably a good thing, I didn’t want anyone else to see me in my near hysterical state. But it would have been nice for someone else to be here, to tell me I was doing the right thing and that it would be okay. 

I pushed the door open slowly, checking to see if any other travelers had stopped by. The cabin was empty, the only movement was the remnants of a fire in the hearth. I grabbed the blanket and pulled Link inside. I pulled out another blanket from his pack and laid it in front of the fire. Then I pulled Link over so he laid on the new blanket. I walked back outside and shook the blanket out that I had dragged him through the snow on, dislodging the snow that had collected in it. 

Walking back into the cabin, I checked on Link again. He was still breathing, still had a pulse. On the trek here he had been mostly silent, whimpering in pain every so often. But now he was silent as he slept in front of the fire. I draped the blanket over some wooden barrels that were by the wall next to the fire. Then I turned back to Link and rummaged through his pack. I knew he kept extra fabric to wrap around his wrists under his bracer. I quickly found the strips of fabric and also pulled out a water pouch. Then I found his stash of herbs and plants, and pulled the whole collection out. 

He didn’t have as much as I thought he would, which was unlike him. Then I remembered the elixirs he gave me at the beginning of the trip. I fumbled around, feeling for the tiny glass jars until I found them. There were ten of them, I wasn’t sure what they all were. But there was one that had a familiar pink glow to it. He had a fairy elixir! That would be good, if things took a turn for the worse. 

After taking stock of the supplies I had, I discovered that I had most of the items to make a pain relief elixir and a healing ointment for his forehead. I would have to go out and search for the remaining supplies, but that was a problem for later.

I decided the first course of action was to take care of his shoulder. Luckily, I remembered how to set a dislocated shoulder from my studies 100 years ago. I kneeled by Link’s right side and undid his armor again. As carefully as I could, I slipped his right arm out of its sleeve. Link only gave a short grunt of pain as I did so. 

“Link, if you can hear me just know this is going to hurt for a bit. But I have to set your shoulder back.” I whispered to him, looking for any sign of acknowledgment that he had heard me. He gave no response back of course. 

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed his right arm in both of my hands. I lifted it so it was raised forward and straight out from his body. I stood up so I could use my height as an advantage. I put one hand on his shoulder and my other hand clasped around his arm, and pulled. Thankfully I felt his shoulder joint pop back in place quickly and I stopped pulling as Link yelled out in pain. 

I grimaced at the sound as I rubbed my hand over his shoulder, pressing against the joint. Everything felt in place, no longer an odd bump where bone pushed at his skin. I thought about wrestling his arm into a sling, but decided against it. 

Link’s face was contorted and he was breathing heavily. I scooted over to his head and ran my fingers through his hair while making shushing noises. He calmed down after a minute and his breathing returned to normal. I used the scraps of fabric to clean his wound and then wrapped a couple around his forehead to cover it. 

There was nothing I could do for his ribs yet, but I knew Link would heal faster than normal hylians. The power of being the sword’s chosen one still coursed through his veins even if our duty was done. He still had exceptional strength, speed, and luckily, the ability to quickly heal. I frowned though as I knew he would still be in pain. 

The fire besides us sputtered pathetically as it began to die out. We would need more wood and I needed to see if I could the remaining materials for the elixirs and ointment. I looked back at Link, unconscious on the floor besides me. He always took care of me and now I needed to take care of him. However, I began to worry that my limited knowledge of how to treat wounds wouldn’t be enough. What if his ribs were poking into his organs? What if his head injury was worse and I couldn’t tell? There could be so many other things that needed to be treated that I couldn’t possibly know.

As I walked out the door, I passed the note again on Selmie’s door. An idea began to form in my mind. Maybe there was a way to get Link out of here, but he wouldn’t like it.

* * *

Everything around me is dark. I wander through the darkness, looking for a light source, but I don't see anything at all. Nor was there a forest on a moonless night; because then I would hear and feel cracking branches, lose leaves and the muffled sound of soft earth under my boots. It was no prison, no dungeon, no building and no shrine. After all, I would know the shrines the best because of the hundreds of trials I went through.

Nothing changes and I continue to wander through the light-dead space. But then I hear a soft voice, quiet and too far away. Desperate, she calls for my name, but I can't figure out where she comes from. I notice panic creeping into my face. But then I realize that I don't feel pain where pain should have been. After that life-threatening fall, I had felt a burning pain in my right shoulder. My ribs hurt like a muscle strain, but 100 times stronger. I still tried to get up to stop Zelda from crying continuously, but the pain in my shoulder and ribs prevented me from getting up. I could barely breathe and yet I tried to calm her down. That was the last thing I remember before I landed in this void. Was I dead? But why could I still hear her lovely voice? I gather all my courage and decide to find a way out of here by following the sound of her voice.

It took me all of my strength and courage to begin climbing out of this seemingly endless void. I feel my lungs filling and emptying weakly. I feel how my weak heartbeat strengthens the more I gain consciousness. My shoulder feels numb and my ribs aren't as strong as before. How is this possible? When I was finally conscious, but still very dazed, I notice a heavyweight on my chest above my heart. I turn my head to the right and left and notice that I am lying covered with coats on a hut floor, right next to an extinguished fireplace.  
My senses are returning and finally, I understand what this weight is on my chest is. It's Zelda’s head. Her hands rest right and left on my rib and shoulder. I lift my head and see her sleeping half lying on me. She has angled her slender legs and lies there, exposed to the merciless cold. It seems like, she had taken off her coat and covered me with it as she warmed herself with the flames of the fireplace. Carefully, I raise my head even higher to see her better and I immediately notice that she must have cried a lot; dry traces of her tears can still be seen on her cheek and nose. She must have been in despair. I feel a deep sadness wash over me, I wanted to give her joy with this trip but I ended up causing her pain.

Suddenly, she whispered my name in her sleep and snuggled into my Rito warrior top, which is spread out on my chest.

“Zelda.”, I whispered while brushing her hair out of her face.

She didn’t hear me. I guess she was in a deep sleep- But then, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Link?" Her voice sounds a bit raspy; my guess is that she has hardly eaten or drunk while I was unconscious.

"Zelda, your head's a little heavy." I say to provoke her.

Instead, she squeaks my name and her arms fall around my neck, giggling. All the strength I put into regaining consciousness was worth it, just to hear her lovely laugh once more. Exhaling loudly, I wrap my healthy arm around her shoulders and place one hand on her neck while pressing my head against hers.

Her floral scent reaches my nose and triggers a tingling in my chest. She jerks her head back while her eyes widen. " I am sorry...I-I did not want to invade your personal space…" she whispers. Her face is so close that I could almost touch her lips to mine, but I didn't want to allow my urges to take advantage of the opportunity and make her uncomfortable with my presence if she didn't want the same thing.

"It’s all right, you didn't invade it at all." She gives me a sweet smile while she stays above me for a while. I see her trying to absorb every detail of my face. But it was far too short. Her face wasn’t near mine long enough. And now I feel a deep remorse sitting in me for not kissing her. She moves away and starts to rummage in our back packs. “While you were unconscious, I dragged you with a carpet to Selmie’s hut and gathered all herbs and wood fire I could carry, to take care of you. It was hard to remember every recipe and every herb with their specialty but in the end, I managed to ease your pain a little bit and relocate your shoulder. I found the fairy elixir in your backpack and trickled some drops in your mouth while you were unconscious but apparently it does not heal every wound. I must note that for the next time.”

Wait. She did all that by herself? She must be so exhausted! And still, she thinks about my well-being instead of hers. But I really needed to know how she made me swallow the elixir while I was unconscious. “Thank you for looking out for me. It is my duty to protect you, but I failed and now you have to stay with me in the cold while you could have been in safety.”

“Link,” she gives me a soft look; “You died for me 100 years ago and protected my life many times now it is my turn to be there for you. That’s why I will put you back to sleep, to heal faster. ”

“NO, NO NO. I don’t want this. I don’t need this. Zelda, nooo!”

I try to fight her off with one arm but she just presses my arm down with her chest and her face hovers now over mine.

“Shall I demonstrate how I gave you the medicine while you were unconscious, dear Link?” she says while giving me a innocent look. I have a bad feeling about this.

“I won’t swallow it. As soon as I fall asleep, you will do something that I wouldn’t agree with! That’s why you want to knock me out.”

But still she plays innocent. She looks to the right and back to my eyes and smiles mischievously. She holds the elixir in her mouth and she uses her other hand to force me to open my mouth. Slowly she pours the elixir into my mouth, then she massages my neck to force me to swallow it and then closes my mouth again. As she wipes the drops from the corners of my mouth. She stares in to my eyes in a way I have never seen before. What was it? But before I could think of the answer I fell asleep.

Abruptly I tear my eyes open and tightly draw the air. I stare up at a pointed canopy. Even though I have just woken up, I immediately notice that I was no longer in the hut. Inwardly, I sighed; Zelda had actually done something I disagreed with. Suddenly I feel a stinging pain in my chest and frantically look around Zelda, but I found nothing more than furniture. I sit up and see a Rito villager bringing me a mug with a mysterious liquid on a wooden serving tray.

"Good morning, revered hero. I brought you our traditional made medicine. But it seems you're already in good shape."

It was Saki, the wife of Teba, the white-feathered warrior of the Rito tribe, who helped me fight Against Vah Medoh. She seemed to me like an unassuming Rito woman, but beautiful to look at. She hardly has time to put down the cup before a horde of Rito children storm into the room and throw themselves on top on me.

"LINK, LINK, LINK, WE ARE SOOOO GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! PLAY WITH US, PLAY WITH US! SING WITH US!" all of them chirp in chorus as they jump on the bed while one even throws himself at my head.

"Be careful you little cheeky monkeys!" My heart fills with joy at seeing them and I let a laugh escape. I even joke around with them until I remember that Zelda isn’t here to watch this or experience the warmth of the village. Where was she? Immediately my cheerfulness suffocates, as if a candle had been put on it. My facial expression falls into my stoic expression as I remember that I didn’t protect Zelda again.

"Children, let the hero of our village rest for a while, he will take care of you when his wounds are healed and his pain disappears."

She must have noticed my change in mood, swirls it in my mind.

Reluctantly moaning, the children jump off the bed and say goodbye to me. Now it was finally quiet again. "Dear hero of the sword, the children worship you very much. They often run around and play knights and princesses and argue over who the hero should be with the sword." She giggled while holding her wing in front of her beak. 'So, don't mind them reacting so hastily to see you. However, I feel that your annoyance comes from a different origin. Does it have anything to do with the young woman with the golden hair and the big green eyes?"

Surprised by her acumen, I look at her directly without letting my guard down. I scornfully turn up my nose, leave the room and storm in the direction of Revali’s landing as I am stopped on the stairs by several powerful Rito warriors. I could take them all out in a split second. I feel the hot anger pulsing through my veins. Although they are several heads bigger than me I am not intimidated by anything. No obstacle was too hard. I will make it through here and find Zelda.

"Look, I thank you all for your help, but you must let me go right away. I must find my friend and protect her.”

“We are sorry hero of our village; we can’t let you go look after her. She told us you would act up when you woke up and that it was important to let you stay here as long as you need to heal.”

“Alright boys let’s end this game. Get out of my way and let me search for her.” Swiftly calculating my chances to escape without hurting them, I leap over their heads, spin around in mid-air and land on my feet directly behind them. My shoulder burns in pain. But I can’t stop yet. I need to find my best friend. Because without her, this world is without hope and light. Biting my teeth, I hold onto my shoulder and rush ahead. They scream after me and try to catch me but I was too fast for them. As I reached the stairs, I heard their voices demanding me to wait to let them explain. But there was no time for me to lose. I must find Zelda! I jump on the stair railing and run-down wards. I realise it was way more difficult to balance my body when my shoulder was injured . Feeling the cold headwind in my face, I took in a deep breath and focused. I hurried down the stairs, always keeping my muscles under control, I reach the entrance to Rito village and jump to the ground. I roll along the ground to take the impact out of the fall, but then I bump into the patrolling guard, who looks at me suspiciously. Without saying a word, I push past him and rush towards the first bridge.

Suddenly I feel a tingling on the back of my neck and instinctively stop just before the bridge. Within a fraction of a second, a flaming arrow is shot at the bridge, setting the wooden bridge on fire. I knew it would take longer for the fire to spread in the damp cold and rush onto the bridge. My upper body stripped and wrapped in bandages, I jump through the fire and hit the grassy rocks on the other side with full force. Face contorted in pain, I leap to my feet again and am about to charge towards the second bridge when a slender silhouette runs towards me.

"Link! Link! What are you doing! You're injured!" Her voice echoes in the face of the gorge below us and stabs me in the chest. She's alright, I think as relief spreads through me. I fall to my knees and struggle for breath. Only now do I realise how much strain I have put myself under. My body shivers with pain and cold and my sweat, mixed from my fear of losing her and my pain, freezes in the freezing cold.

"Link! LINK!" The hysteria in her voice is hard to miss. A breeze reaches me. I force myself to stand and look into two large worried green eyes. "Zelda..." I whisper to myself and force a smile. "By the goddess Hylia, what were you thinking running off in your condition???? Link. Please don't pass out again, I don't have that much strength to carry you." Then she presses herself against me, warming me with her Rito clothes as she carefully supports me as I stand up. But then she pauses and stares at a point ahead of us in the direction of Rito village.

"Link, please don't tell me the bridge is on fire because of you."

“Hmm… not quite.”

After everyone helped to distinguish the fire and repair the bridge we finally could talk about what happened. I sincerely apologized for being a total idiot as I learned what happened while I was asleep.

"Zelda, can you repeat why you did that? I wasn’t listening very well because of the angry looks around me.“ Now fully dressed in warm Rito clothes, I once bought from here back then, Zelda and I were finally able to be alone together. Saki was truly a blessing, as she noticed my insecurity around so many people and took out everyone as she left the room with the fire pit in the middle of the room.

"It’s going to be alright Link.“ Saki said but I wasn’t so sure about it. "Don’t worry they will understand after I talk to them.“

She looked between me and Zelda for a while and smiled in a way as if she would know something that I didn’t.

As soon as she left, Zelda looked at me waiting for me to give her my full attention.

"Link, it’s simple. I had limited ways to treat you in the mountains and your wounds were serious. I needed to send you to the village and get professional treatment for your injuries. I feared, I would lose you again but this time for good and I didn’t want you to go. So, I plotted to put you asleep because you wouldn’t want me be left alone in the mountains. Based on the information you told me a while ago that you could teleport yourself to a different place but it was way more difficult to send another person, I figured out how to teleport one person to a near place but I still had to study it. I am glad I managed to make it happen. Because now you’re in a safe place surround by people who respect and adore you."

Her look in her eyes became soft as she said the last words. I am not sure why but her look made my heart flutter. After a brief moment I realised that I was staring at her and shook my head. “Zelda but how did you find the way here? Did you teleport yourself here too?“

She giggled at my question and went further on to explain. "No, Link don’t be silly. I needed to send the slate with you in order to teleport you. I simply pinned a letter with a message and my coordinates on your clothes to let the Rito warriors find me. Remember the two, who looked at you with annoyance? It was them who came to guide me into the village."

Good grief, it were also the same dudes who held me back when I tried to escape. Embarrassment spread through me. I knew I had to make up for it.

“Don’t worry, they won’t be angry with you anymore after I talk to them." As if she read my mind. I smiled at a response and hoped she was right. „But why weren’t you here when I woke up? How long did I sleep anyway?“ I had been so stressed that only now did those thoughts occur to me. Uncertain, I grab the back of my head and look at Zelda, desperate for answers.  
In response, however, I get a honeyed chuckle. "You slept for a total of three days straight. It would took me a total of two days to get here, thanks to the Rito we got there quicker as they knew some shortcuts. When we finally arrived before the gorge, I could already see the bridge and was about to charge straight for it, but we stopped and I got on the back of the Rito with the blue feathers and soared over the gorge."

Suddenly I feel a strange feeling of fear mixed with a desire to fight take over. I had never felt this feeling before and yet I feel it right now, with Zelda telling me nothing problematic. I decided to push the thought aside and focus on Zelda.

"So you’ve been here a day already. How was it for you? The view is majestic, isn’t it? What had you actually done on the other side of the gorge, since I saw you coming from there.“

"When I arrived here I was immediately greeted warmly by the Rito children! They were so cute and sang me old songs from their people. I was also introduced to the elder! A really forgetful, sweet old geezer. He often spoke of you and how much you resembled the Link from the Time of Devastation. Then when it got awkward when he asked about my past, the woman with the cherry-blossom coloured feathers came to the rescue and saved me from interrogation .“ I smirked at her way of describing situations so vividly and dramatically. Even she giggled. "She was so kind and brought me to you and helped me take care of you. I learned a lot from her! She then gave me a book of remedies and cooking recipes and mentioned that I would find some ingredients at the other end of the bridge, in a horse stable which is a trading hub for many travelers. I just couldn’t help myself and dashed to the stable. I didn’t want to miss seeing you wake up, but unfortunately I was too late. I heard yelling in the distance and got worried, so I peeked out and then when I noticed the dark smoke, I dashed as I thought something had happened to you.“

She looks down sheepishly and almost whispers the last words. I smirk at her confession as I continue to lean forward towards her, mindful that the small cooking area next to us doesn’t torch my shoes. "Zelda, I was worried about you too. I thought you were alone in the mountains.“ I stare directly into her bright green eyes as she slowly raises her gaze to my blue eyes. I don’t even notice that I’ve already gotten close enough to smell her sweet scent. Once again I felt that desire inside me that I felt in Selmie’s hut. She gives me an infectious smile and asks me in a soft voice, "Link, can we stay here for a while? There’s something soothing and magical about the area.“ I nod in response and enjoy being able to be close to her again. "I will also take this opportunity to introduce you to two special Rito. Teba and Kass. You’ll love them both instantly.“ I smile at the thought of the proud warrior and the talented musician.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A romantic chapter in the Hebra mountains, where Link watches with Zelda the Aurora Borealis shining upon the mountains.   
> Zelda finds out more about his life after the loss of all of his memories

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in one of the comfortable Rito beds in their inns. Zelda was sleeping peacefully beside me, her face turned towards me. There was something magical about seeing her in her warming nightclothes, sleeping beside me, surrounded by majestic mountains and a pleasant cold. I took advantage of the situation to watch her sleep undisturbed and gently stroked the strands of hair from her face. My arm felt numb under her head, but it was worth it to me to have her so close. Hopefully she would never know how I felt about her, because the closer we got, the more complicated it would get with her desire to rebuild Hyrule. It was getting to be time to wake Zelda up, so a prank came to mind.

Carefully, I pulled my arm away and sat up. I had to massage and shake my arm to get the blood flowing, but I didn’t mind. As long as it didn’t kill me, the sarcastic thought occurred to me.

I jumped out the window and landed noiselessly on the grassy ground that surrounded the guest cottage and grabbed a stalk, climbed back in over the same window and sat down cross-legged in front of Zelda’s face. One last time I examined her contented sleeping face, which she always had when I slept next to her. Then I took the stalk and tickled her nose and ears. Hectically she tore her eyes open and patted her body and face with her hands in panic. I let out a laugh and almost toppled off the bed to see her like that. She noticed my reaction and stopped abruptly and just looked at me questioningly “Link, what have you done now!”

Again I snorted, this time it was her confused look. I tried to gasp for breath and at the same time explain to her what I had done, which proved to be a challenge for me. “Link!”

"Don’t worry Zelda! I only tried to wake you up. “

"apparently you did. Great job. And never do this again, whatever it was.“ Now she was annoyed and I nearly lost it again but I needed to focus.

"Anyways. Today starts your first lesson on how to cook. We have to gather some ingredients from the Hebra mountains, so let’s get started, because the day will pass before we even reached the stables.“

As I said that, I jumped from the bed and took off my night wear to change into my Rito armor. I was so used to be alone all the time that I forgot to warn Zelda. Of course she started to squeal. „Link! What is wrong with you, why don’t you warn me before taking off your clothes!“ I smirked at her to provoke her even more. „You can see more if you want!“ I said and received a smash of a pillow in to my face. „You’re ridiculous! “ she was about to burst out by clenching her fists but I reached over the bed to her and held her wrists tight. „Zelda I am just kidding, don’t be mad at me. You can change your clothes in peace, I will wait for you at the gate to the village. “

As I walked away from the inn, on the way to the gate, many Rito villagers greeted me heartily. It seems they weren’t mad at me anymore, I guess Saki did tell them, I was a complete fool, to ease their minds. But then I bumped into the the Rito warriors and even they greeted me and apologized for their behavior. I will have to ask Saki about this later.

I talked to the guard about the surroundings and if he saw dangerous threats around this area and he said besides the already existing monsters in the mountains, the area around the stable and the village was safe for travels. When I thanked him for his advice I turned back to the stairs and my eyes caught a goddess standing in front of the goddess‘ statue. She wore a full white coloured Rito snow quill armour and looked astounding.

She had her long hair braided to a ponytail and her face was framed in gold through two thick strands of her hair. My heart fluttered at her forest green eyes shimmering like the surface of water in the incoming sunlight. Her shy smile adorned her pretty face, which was framed by strands of her golden hair.

Slowly I realized I was staring at her for too long and as a result she blushed. “Do you like my new outfit that much?” she asked curiously.

Slowly and elegantly, she stepped down the stairs while I couldn’t get out of my staring even when she stood right in front of me.

“Zelda… You… You look like a goddess.” I said without thinking twice. As I realized what I said, my eyes widened and became nervous. _‘How did I let this happen?’_

“I-“ I was about to start to say, but Zelda interrupted me before I could finish the sentence.

“Link, please don’t be sorry. I appreciate your compliment… and I wish you would say what you think more often.” Zelda folded her hands in front of her chest and looked directly into my eyes. She had an intense glimpse sparkling in her mirrors of her soul while she smiled at me in a way that I couldn’t lay my eyes off. It gave me an intriguing feeling.

“Everything my princess desires,” I finally replied.

Even though I had only addressed her by her title, it slowly dawned on me how ambiguous it sounded, and I couldn’t help but smile. Zelda giggled adorable in response. I scratched the back of my head, which I always did when I messed up things.

"Let’s get to the stables before it gets dark. We will need our horses in the deep snow to move faster. After that, we’ll let them rest near our campfire so they won’t freeze.“ I finally said leading her the way.

Zelda nodded in agreement and broke away from me. We then walked across the bridges in comfortable silence, admiring the majestic view, until we arrived at the stables.

"Link, why did you name your horse Altay? I’ve never heard that name before,” Zelda asked as I picked up our horses.

I had captured and tamed a direct descendant of her favourite horse, before the battle against Ganon, and held the white proud mare by her reins so that Zelda could pet and caress her in peace.

My mount, however, compared to hers, was like the night itself. My stallion had black fur and a black mane that was cropped into a mohawk. His forehead had a white mark that ran to his mouth. His fetlocks were covered with longer fur - an indication that he could cope with any weather. Basically, my horse was the perfect mount for me; fearless, strong and not afraid of any obstacle.

“An old man I once met on my journey told me about a warlike people who were unbeatable on their horses. They called themselves the Altay Warriors, after a mountain of their ancestors and deities. I don’t know what happened to these warriors, but I still found the story impressive. When I found my buddy, here beside me,” I lovingly stroked my horse’s mouth as I continued, “I knew he was just as tough as those warriors and gave him that name. He loves it when I call him by his name.” I smiled and helped Zelda onto her horse, grabbing her hip and hoisting her onto the saddle with ease. I loved those tiny touches and the way she smiled happily as I did so.

“Thank you Link, a gentleman as always.” She said and gave me the intriguing look again.

I winked at her and turned to my horse and mounted the saddle. We had both opted for the ‘Travelling Saddle’ as it offered more storage space.

“So, Link will you tell me now, where we’re heading? You didn’t tell me more than that we would camp in the Hebra mountains.” She asked as we rode our horses in a slow walk.

“You will see, when we’re there, Princess.”

“Link that’s not fair, I want you to tell me where we will go. I want to be prepared.”

“Prepared for what? You won’t need to do anything but study the flora around us.” I said as I spurred my horse on.

At a trot we rode past the felled trees as the cool wind blew through the long stalks of grass.

“Because I want to learn new things and be useful, after you injured your shoulder, you must have realised too that you can’t be always there for me. Let me at least learn how to hunt with a bow. And no – the bow of light is something else.”

The group of trees in front of us was often filled with Oktoroks, so I kept my eyes open, but we had been spared this time. I breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the huge rock face to our left.

“I will think about it, princess,” I said and immediately saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes. She turned her head away and sighed frustrated.

‘ _As if I could ever refuse her wishes.’_

We had barely reached the sand-coloured rock cliff when the illuminating blue light of a shrine in the near distance caught my eye and pointed in the direction. Zelda looked out for the point in the distance that I was pointing at and drew in her breath sharply. I looked to her and watched as her eyes began to sparkle like opal.

“Link, there’s another shrine! And it’s glowing blue too! Link! Link! Let’s explore the shrine!”

“That’s the Bareeda Naag shrine I entered a while ago. That’s probably why it glows blue instead of orange, since I completed the trial inside.”

Eyes dilated like those of an eagle, stared at me in shock.

As we trotted on, I kept an eye on the surrounding area, knowing that a camp of monsters was hiding behind the rock face.

“The shrines you wanted to explore 100 years ago turned out to be trials for the hero with the mastersword. They served to restore my original strength and endurance. Ancient, mummified monks waited for me in these shrines and gave me different tests. Which amazes me though, because these shrines were created 10 thousand years ago, with the sole purpose of helping me. How could the ancient Sheikah have known this? But if they knew about our miserable fate, why didn’t they take action against it? So many questions ran through my mind as I travelled through Hyrule with no memory.”

I stared at the pommel of his saddle as I moved my hip to the rhythm of Altay. Absentmindedly, I stroked through the spiky Mohawk mane.

I only realised I was lost in thought when Zelda placed a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my hazy memories of the devastation.

“Link, why don’t you tell me what you saw in the shrine? What was that trial you had to pass?”

Grateful for the distraction, I gave her a smile.

“Activating the shrine first was a challenge in itself,” we rode past the ruins that surrounded the shrine as I continued, “Laissa, the wife of Kass the poet, sang me an ancient Rito song that contained the solution to the challenge. I quickly found out that through the heart-shaped hole in the steep rock in Rito village, the sun had to shine on an illuminating pedestal and had to be shot with a fire arrow. Shortly thereafter, a shrine rose up from between those ruins and cleared the way for me to take the next test. In the shrine, with the help of my bomb module, I catapulted a huge stone ball at a huge target that was blocked by crumbling stones and floating pedestals that moved back and forth to make my job more difficult. I only had to shoot twice, once to pulverise the stones and a second time to fire at the target at the right moment. It was admittedly one of the easier tests I had to complete.” As I told her more and more, her eyes lit up with fascination, but then I remembered that I hadn’t even introduced her to Kass, let alone Teba, the Rito’s bravest warrior. The thought of Kass led me to remember the final verses of his teacher’s completed ballad.

“Link are you all right? You looked very nervous and troubled for a moment.”

“I’m fine. I just remembered one of the freaky trials.”

I decided to withhold Kass’ ballad from her for the time being, as I wasn’t sure if it was true. I just couldn’t imagine Zelda seeing me as more than her best friend. 

“Do you want to tell me about it? You went through so much before you came to rescue me, and yet I can only begin to comprehend what you’ve been through.”

A spark of admiration flitted across her face, but just as I was about to begin to tell, I harkened and halted abruptly.

Puzzled, Zelda stared at me, but before she could ride past me, I grabbed the reins of Himawari, Zelda’s mare, and slowed her down. She neighed loudly in fright, but I managed to shush her with my “Ho! Ho. Hoa!” to calm her down.

Altay sensed danger nearby and flared his nostrils. Nervously, he shook his head and exhaled loudly. He was ready to face the danger.

I heard only the deafening snore of a Hinox, but I knew that if Altay reacted in such a way, there were Yiga nearby who could appear out of nowhere.

I could not hesitate for long, made up my mind quickly.

With my right arm I grabbed Zelda by her waist and dragged her from the saddle onto my lap, slapping Himawari on the back and we galloped as fast as Altay could.

Zelda cried out, constricted in my bent-over stance to brave the wind. I could hear a diabolic laugher, far behind us. I pushed Altay to run faster and quicker.

“Hold on tight!”, I yelled against the wind.

Himawari galloped ahead of us, but Altay quickly caught up with her and sprinted past. We had to get away quickly, far away from any lurking danger.

“HYAH!”, I yelled and spurred Altay and Himawari on.

The icy headwind whipped my face and froze my ears and nose. I hugged Zelda tighter to me with one arm to protect her from the weather while she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face against my shoulder.

I could hear Altay’s powerful lungs quivering with joy. I heard every breath as his hooves pawed into the ground. I felt every muscle he moved.

My lungs burned with icy cold, but I gritted my teeth until we reached the crossroads to the Hebra Mountains. Once there, we stopped abruptly and Altay reared back, whinnying. I tightened my legs so as not to fall off the horse and pressed Zelda against me while pulling the reins tight with one hand.

Zelda clung tighter to me as she let out a suppressed squeal.

“Ho! Ho!”, I shouted to calm Altay down.

When Himawari reached us, I released my reins, stretched out my arm and grabbed Himawari’s reins as she charged towards us. I concentrated, tensing my leg muscles to sit firmly in the saddle, and pulled my arm towards me with all my might to intercept Himawari’s momentum. I pulled hard on her reins, keeping Altay under control, and pushed Zelda onto my lap until Himawari came skidding to a halt.

I exhaled with relief and let go of the mare’s reins. I relaxed my grip around Zelda’s waist so that she could relax. Her legs hung off the side of my lap and her hip was pressed painfully tight against the pommel of my saddle.

“Forgive me Princess, I had to get us away from there as quickly as possible as I sensed through Altay that this place held some danger. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

I slid further back in the saddle to move her a little away from the pommel, but I bumped into the pack on my horse’s back.

Zelda let go of my neck and looked up at me.

“I could have ridden after you on Himawari, couldn’t I?”

“No. I can protect you better if you’re right there with me. The Yiga have the art of appearing out of nowhere and attacking you with sword and bow. They could have separated us by waking the sleeping Hynox and kidnapping you quite easily.”

Her beautiful face was millimetres from mine, I couldn’t help but gaze into her deep green eyes. Her pupils dilated, her lips opened a crack and honey sweet breath, clouded my mind. Feeling her chest rise and fall steadily, I realised my hand was still at her waist and she was sitting on my lap.

I tried to calm my racing pulse and deep breaths so as not to take any more space from her by my strong rise and fall of my broad chest.

Silently, we sat there staring into each other’s eyes. Even though I was a disciplined knight, I was only a man. My gaze fell on her slightly parted lips. Magnetically attracted by her breath, my mouth approached hers.

But suddenly a thought flashed through my mind and made me jerk backwards. I was still her knight, protector and closest confidant. I had no right to kiss her.

“Sorry princess. That wasn’t planned” I cleared my throat and tried to gather my thoughts. But then I noticed Zelda’s sad face.

“Princess? Why are you so sad?”

Zelda furrowed her brows and averted her face. However, it felt like I had put a rift between us.

“It’s nothing. We should keep moving or we’ll never get to the snow mountains.” She signaled me to lower her down. Carefully I hoisted her onto Himawari’s saddle and we rode along the mountain pass, following the path. A herd of wild horses crossed our path and galloped ahead of us, across all directions. At the end of the trail was a hut with a campfire and we decided to let the horses rest at this spot.

“What is this place?” Zelda asked.

“Hebra Trailhead Lodge. See that wooden ladder? If we climb that, we’ll get to Rosporo Pass. From there we get to the Hebra south summit. The pass to the right of the mountain takes us past Corvash Peak Mountain to Hebra Plunge and Hebra Falls. But the way is a long one on both paths, I suggest making a campfire close to this hut, but stay at the pass.”

* * *

I set my foot down lightly in the snow, huffing as the snow crackled underneath my boot. I had been walking around for at least 10 minutes while trying to keep my steps silent. How did Link always walk so quietly? He could run across a field and not make a sound. How many times had I seen him scramble up the side of a building, sneaking around the townspeople while goofing off.

Link had told me to find hot peppers and wild berries, and I had found neither so far. Somehow I convinced him to let me wander off by myself, though I figured he was staying close in case I needed him.

The quiet landscape around me had been cast in a yellow glow as the sun started sinking behind the mountains. The light hit the snow that clung to the tree branches and the snow sparkled in return. The reflected light from the snow danced on the fresh snow on the ground. I breathed in the cold air while I trekked on, smiling as I took in the beauty of it all. I couldn’t imagine ever getting used to the beauty of the Hebra region.

Soon I found a group of wild berry bushes and began plucking the berries into my pack. I wasn’t sure what Link was planning to teach me to cook tonight, but I was excited that it included fruit. The peppers had thrown me off, but they would be useful in the cold region we were in. Even if we didn’t use them for dinner, it was a good idea to keep them on hand.

After collecting all the berries I could find, I continued on. I knew that peppers grew better in more open areas and that there were cliffsides near the area I was in, Hopefully there were some peppers there. I forced myself to walk faster, I was losing daylight and I was supposed to meet Link back at the campsite by nightfall.

Shaking my head, I tried to get Link out of my head. He was only going to be a distraction. Plus, I was upset with him. Well, maybe frustrated was a better word. Frustrated actually explained a lot of how I was feeling lately.

I hadn’t let Link know, but after our almost run in with the Yiga earlier today, my sense of helplessness had only grown. He could sense the smallest sign of danger and had once again had to escort me to safety. Meanwhile I had been oblivious to it until I heard the faint laugh of the Yiga member. Even then, the only instinct I had was to hide my face in Link’s shoulder while my fear frightened me in place. Truthfully I was thankful Link was there and had the skills to detect such danger.

However, it had since dawned on me that my education as the royal daughter had done little to prepare me to live in the world that existed now. Of course, no one could have predicted what would happen. But out here in the wild, there was no use for arithmetic, or table manners, or citing the favorite literature among the nobility. Life here was driven by work done with labor and skilled hands. The civilians that still lived across Hyrule all knew how to collect and make the supplies they needed.

But I knew nothing. I didn’t know how to find more substantial resources, create shelter, make my own clothes, or defend myself. This is what I had been trying to tell Link for a few days now. But each time I brought it up, he brushed it off. Saying that he knew all of those skills and therefore I didn’t need to. Which is why I was frustrated with him.

But he had already promised to teach me how to forage for food and cook. That was a start, at least. And while Link was healing well from his fall, he still wasn’t well enough to do all the work by himself. Though if someone asked him if he was, he would say yes with an annoying amount of confidence.

I set another foot down, attempting to be lighter. I held my breath as my boot sunk in the snow, waiting for the sound of the crunch. But this time my footstep was silent. A small victory, but I let myself have it.

Shifting my foot to take another step, I brought my hand to grab the bow slung around my chest. I smiled as I remembered how excited I was to wear it like Link did. It was an extra great eagle bow that Link had in his pack. He had made a joke that it was weak enough that if I accidentally shot him, it wouldn’t hurt that badly. Rolling my eyes and threatening to take him up on that offer, I had taken the bow gratefully. It had also been another tiny win in my favor. Maybe my frustrations were unwarranted.

My face grew red as I also remembered that Link had offered to show me how to use it. For some reason I accepted his offer, even though I had been taught archery before the calamity. Archery was one of the few useful skills I had been instructed in growing up, although back then I didn’t care for it much. Also, I was a terrible shot.

I felt my hands shake as I remembered using another bow. The bow of light. The sacred bow of light had been given to me by the Goddess before I went to fight Ganon. The bow had somehow felt familiar as I gripped it for the first time. I had not had time to practice using it and I didn’t need to. I had used it countless times before, in other life times. Heading to the castle, I was armed only with the bow and my sealing power to face my enemy alone.

I shuddered at the memory and I gripped the great eagle bow tighter. There were no sacred ties or unfair duties with this bow. I could use this one and just be another girl hunting. The quiver Link had given me only had a few arrows in it, but I could target practice if I wanted to. Weighing the idea in my mind, I turned my head toward the horizon. I sighed as I realized the sun was starting to sink, which meant that I needed to hurry. There would not be enough time to practice and collect what I needed to.

Luckily the cliffs weren’t too far away, but the sun had beat me. It was now dark, the stars and moon finally showing themselves. I used the light of the moon to scan the cleared area by the cliffs, my eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dark. I finally found a few peppers growing at the far end of the area and began pulling them off their vines. I smiled and felt my mood lighten a bit, proud of myself for finding them. Even if I was late to the task. Just as soon as I was done, I heard footsteps coming from around the corner.

I turned in alarm, but relaxed as I saw Link come into view. Puffs of hot air followed him as he slowed his run to a walk.

“Zelda! There you are.” He smiled, and continued to walk over to me. His face was changing from a frown to relief, as if he had been worried about me. I felt anger prickle at my hands, why couldn’t I have made it back in time instead of causing Link to worry? There went my better mood.

“Do you not trust me? I am fine. I was about to head back to the stable.” I said, letting my annoyance show. A look of confusion spread over Link’s face, his mouth tried to form words in response.

“No! I mean yes I trust you I just-” He started. But his initial response of “no” set me off.

“You must really think I’m that helpless. Maybe you’re right. You gave me an easy task and I couldn’t even complete it before nightfall.” I said, walking back towards Link. I felt my voice start to get louder, frustration taking over. “And I couldn’t even be a few minutes late without you having to run around to find me. Maybe this is hopeless and I should just-”

“Zelda!” Link cut me off. “Zelda, hold on. None of that is true.” He said, his brows furrowing in concern.

“Well then why did you come running all the way over here? Like I am just some child you lost sight of.” I huffed. Why was I getting so mad at him? It was misdirected anger, I was more upset with myself for losing track of time today. I was about to continue when Link grabbed my wrists, bringing me closer to him and closing the rest of the distance between us.

He rolled his eyes at me, but rubbed his thumbs once over the top of my hands. Warmth flowed through them instantly, and my heart pounded. “I came over here to show you something. And I was running because I didn’t want you to miss it. Now stop being so stubborn and look up.” He said, sliding one arm around my waist when I tried to pull away before he finished his sentence. But then I stopped and followed his instructions.

A gasp escaped my mouth as I glanced up. The sky was lit up in streams of green and bright pink light. The light snaked across the sky, playfully shifting down toward the ground almost as if it were teasing the tops of the mountains. Aurora borealis, I thought. One of my tutors had told me about the lights in the sky, but I never had been able to see them for myself. They weren’t viewable from the castle. I must have been so caught up in my search that I didn’t notice the show the night sky was putting on.

I felt my arms relax and I let my hand fall to land on the top of Link’s arm which was still around my waist, but Link held my other hand in place to lay flat on his chest. I thanked Hylia for the cold air, giving an excuse for the redness creeping across my face. I gave his arm a soft squeeze, letting him know I saw what he wanted me to look at. But I kept my gaze on the lights. They were beautiful, like dancers waltzing across the night sky. Sometimes the green and pink hues shifted to purple or blue, but they were breathtaking regardless of what color they chose to be.

I finally forced my gaze away from them, back to Link. He had been watching them too, but looked back down at me when he saw my head shift. For a second I just let myself stare back into his eyes, and he searched my face as always. What was he searching for this time? Did he only see his sovereign and friend starting back at him, or did he see something more? At night, did he dream of my eyes too?

I suddenly became all too aware of how close we were. Link’s arms around me, my hands on top of his. Our bodies more or less pressed against each other. Of course he had held me like this because I was trying to push away from him and I would have missed the lights if he hadn’t. But he was lingering, he technically didn’t have to have his arms around me anymore. I technically didn’t have to have my arms touching him. We technically didn’t have to be staring silently at each other for this long, but we were.

I could have died right there and been content. But I didn’t dare let myself to think that this moment meant more. But perhaps it did. I remembered the moment the day before, when we had been escaping the Yiga. Had he been trying to kiss me or did I imagine that?

“I was being stubborn again, wasn’t I?” I finally breathed, forcing my eyes to look somewhere else.

“You were. But you always are.” He laughed. I could feel the vibrations of his laugh from how close we were. I still wasn’t over his laugh. A thing that only the Link from this time did.

“Well you were right, as you always are. That was quite beautiful. I have always wanted to see the lights and I never thought I would. Thank you.” I replied, giving him a smile in return.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as his smile grew wider. He let go of his hold on me, taking a step back. My hands fell back to my side and I felt the loss of warmth immediately. But he still stared back at me, his blue eyes almost glowing in the moonlight.

“Er, do you want to practice with the bow before we head back?” Link asked. His cheeks were red, probably from the cold. But a little part of me thought maybe he was blushing.

I nodded and turned to follow him.

As we walked to find a good area to practice, I replayed the past fews days back in my head. Starting from when Link woke me up with his prank, the compliment he gave me on the stairs back in Rito Village, then when evaded danger before I even knew anything was wrong. The redness on my face deepened when I remembered being pulled into his lap as we outran the Yiga on horseback. His instincts and strength were impressive, to say the least.

And just now, standing under the lights while being more or less in his arms.

All of these were innocent moments, really. But I knew I would replay them in my head for a long time. The image of his blue eyes staring back into mine would surely keep me up tonight.

And it was then an odd thought occurred to me. Blue was my favorite color.

“Is here okay?” Link spoke up, bringing me back from my thoughts. He was giving me a smug look, and only then did I realize he had led us to the flight range.

I was surprised to see the range after so long, but pleased to see that it hadn’t changed much in over a century. I sighed woefully as I remembered the countless times Revali showed off his skills here. Taking off on an upwind with his wings spread wide and shooting all the targets in a blink of an eye. Taking a deep breath, I hoped I would make him proud with the amateur archery skills I possessed.

“Yes. I believe this will work.” I answered, pulling the bow over my head and reaching for an arrow. I looked over at Link and he stepped back with a nod, giving me space to practice.

Suddenly I felt very nervous to practice in front of Link, and I now regretted not taking the time to shoot a couple of arrows earlier when I was alone. I fumbled with the arrow. The bow of light had been so easy to use. Almost like the bow had done the work for me, or maybe the adrenaline I had back then had made it easier to use.

Link stood back and motioned for me to continue. With the arrow finally nocked, I raised the bow with my arms shaking. I had seen Link jump in the air and shoot an arrow in one swift motion, with little effort. He must have been humored by my struggle, I couldn’t bear to look to see if he was. Pulling my right arm back, I aimed for the closest target in front of me. I could tell before I released it the arrow that it would miss, my shaky arms making it a clumsy shot.

The arrow in fact missed the target, whizzing past it to land in the snow. Still, I was encouraged by the speed of the arrow. I just needed to get better at my aim.

“That was good.” Link said, suddenly appearing next to me. “Here, nock another bow. If you straighten your arms more you’ll make your mark.”

He stood behind me as I pulled another bow out of the quiver and nocked it. He reached up and put his right arm on my right elbow, raising it so my arm was perfectly horizontal. His left arm lightly touched my waist, straightening my posture.

“When you draw the bow back, one finger should be above the arrow with two fingers supporting it from underneath. And you want your right hand to be right next to your mouth. Go ahead and try.” He whispered by my ear, and he stood back.

I drew the bow back, making sure my hand was even with my mouth and arms were level. I released the arrow, sighing as the arrow missed the target again. But it was closer, barely missing.

I continued practicing, with Link stepping in to give pointers. Every once in a while nudging my waist or correcting my arm form with a light touch. Everytime, my breath caught in my throat when I felt his hands on me. In truth, he was distracting me more than he was helping me.

But I didn’t stop him from doing it, even though I felt a little guilty not telling him that I had been educated in archery. But between me being out of practice and Link making me nervous, I was fumbling like a true inexperienced archer.

Finally, I shot three arrows into the target. While they were nowhere close to the bullseye I was still ecstatic with my progress. I felt myself smile wide after each one and with Link would give me a thumbs up in approval. His face beaming at me after I made the third one, I raised my arms in the air in a cheer. Link walked over pulling me into a big hug and swung me around in a circle. I laughed as he spun me, throwing my head back and feeling the wind whip my hair around.

I stumbled as he sat me back down, feeling joy fill my heart and spread through my limbs.

“I have a confession.” I said, laughing still. Link looked at me, his eyebrows raised with a smile still on his face. “Well I, uh, was taught archery back then. Obviously I’m rusty and I appreciated the pointers. But just thought I should tell you.” I looked down at my shoes, slightly embarrassed about my confession.

“So you just let me teach you something you already knew, like a moron?” Link asked, his voice playful. When I looked up at him I could tell he had tried to look angry, but he was awful at hiding the smile he wore.

I nodded and shrugged, glad he wasn’t actually upset.

“Shame on you, Princess. Shame on you.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

“I apologize! And your tips were still quite useful, thank you. They will certainly help me in my practice.” I slung the bow back over my head.

“Good. I guess that makes me feel better.” He stated, shifting his feet a little in the snow. “I’m not really ready to go back yet. Do you want to go find somewhere to sit? We can watch the lights some more.”

I stared at him, gasping in disbelief. “I never thought I would see the day that you would push off dinner. I thought you would be starving by now.”

He put a hand to his stomach and laughed. “Oh, I am. But it’s such a beautiful night, we might as well enjoy it. Unless you are ready for dinner?” He asked.

It was late already, it had been a few hours since the sun had set. But I wasn’t really hungry yet. “No, I can wait. Let’s go.” I answered, motioning for him to lead.

But Link took me by surprise, by tucking his arm in mine and giving me a smile before leading us away from the range. My skin tingled where he made contact, and I silently sighed in my mind.

I wished I had the courage to ask him about his feelings. Did he do everything for me out of duty? Out of friendship? Out of something more? These thoughts had kept me up at night recently. I often came to the conclusion that I was okay with the way things were. Having Link around and allowing our friendship to continue to grow was enough.

Honestly, most days it was enough. But moments like this, when he would do something out of his usual behavior that I felt the need to know what was actually going through his mind. Our conversation this morning only caused me to wonder more.

However, Link’s memory was still fragile. I wanted to give him space and time to heal. Putting strain on our friendship, the one thing that was a constant for him, would certainly not be the best thing for him.

Link led us back to the clearing on the cliff. He let go of my arm to clear snow off of two rocks that were at the edge of the clearing, then motioned for me to sit next to him.

“Thank you.’ I said, sitting down. I left a small space between us on the rock. Looking up at the sky, I could still see the lights. They were fainter now, but they still danced across the sky.

“How is your shoulder doing?” I asked him. It had been a few days since his fall, and while he certainly was healing faster than a normal Hylian, I was worried he was hiding his pain.

“Oh, it’s a little sore and stiff. I should probably be stretching it more than I am. But it is feeling a lot better.” He replied while shifting his shoulder a few times for emphasis.

“I’m glad to hear it. You really had me worried there. And your head? How does it feel?” I picked at a loose thread on my pants while I waited for his answer.

“Good as well. It hasn’t really hurt since the first day I woke up. A little tender if I touch it I suppose. My ribs are still sore, if that is your next question.” He said, nudging my shoulder with his.

I nudged him back. “Yes it was. Well, like I said. I am glad you are getting better. A shame that you are such a clumsy hero though.” I teased.

His head turned to look at me, rolling his eyes again. “Hmm. I don’t think you want to talk to me about being clumsy.” He chuckled, his shoulders shaking as he did so. But then he got a serious look on his face. “I am sorry about that though, Zelda. I really am. I honestly should have been more careful. Never would I have ever wanted to cause you such distress.”

I looked back up at him and I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I know. There is no need to apologize though.” I answered, feeling my brows scrunch on my face.

Link leaned down a bit closer. “Well, there is. And I also need to say thank you. For what you did, even if I was mad about it. You saved me, Zelda.”

Oh he was close, way too close to my face. I wanted to lean in closer, it would have been so easy to close the distance between us. And he was looking at me again like he did yesterday.

But there were things we needed to talk about. And I suddenly felt a little brave, I decided it was time to ask him a few of the questions that had been haunting me for weeks now.

“It’s what we do for each other.” I said, looking away. “Speaking of that. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but there have been a few things I have wanted to ask you for awhile now.”

Link tilted his head, waiting for me to continue.

“What do…” I stopped. I wasn’t sure where to begin. “Do you remember the first time we traveled to Rito Village together? Before the Calamity?” I asked. I decided to start small and ask him about a few specific memories.

He sighed, though I wasn’t sure if it was out of surprise or frustration. “Can you tell me a little more about it?” He asked.

“Oh yes, of course.” I said, pausing to think about which details of the trip to describe. “Well, we had traveled from the castle to Rito Village to get an update from Revali on how he was managing to pilot Vah Medoh. Along the way, we ran into some ice lizalfos on the way, but you took care of them. Later, we had dinner with Kaneli, Revali, and some others. Nothing important happened on the excursion, I just chose a random moment to ask you about.” I answered, fiddling with the loose thread again.

Link’s face scrunched up in thought, his eyes moving back and forth as he combed through his memories. Then his face fell and he hung his head. “No, I’m sorry I don’t think I do.”

“It’s okay, Link. Like I said, it’s not an important memory. May I ask another question though?” I shot a side glance at him and saw him nod.

“Do you remember obtaining the Master Sword the first time?”

“No.” He answered quickly. “I have tried to remember that. But I haven’t been able to.” He said, his voice quiet.

I sighed apologetically. “Oh. I’m sorry for bringing it up, Link. I won’t ask about it anymore.” I was worried I had pushed him too far before he was ready.

“No, it’s fine. Maybe asking questions will help remind me of something.” He said, lifting his head to look at me.

I thought about something else to ask him, and there were so many things I could have. But I decided to go a different route. “Yesterday you said you wandered Hyrule with no memory. Is that true? Do you remember anything about your life before becoming a knight?”

This caused Link to lean forward into his hands, sighing into his palms. He stayed like that for a minute, not moving. Then he pushed his hair out of his face and sat up. He glanced over at me and cleared his throat. “I don’t remember my life before being assigned your knight. Honestly, I don’t remember much, at all. Most of my memories are tied to the pictures in the slate.” He finally answered.

I closed my eyes, I had figured as much. But it was still devastating for him to admit it. I wrung my hands together, attempting to come up with something appropriate to say. But what do you say to something like that?

“So everything you did after you woke up, training to defeat Ganon, freeing the Divine Beasts, saving me…. You did all of that without remembering who you were?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yours was the first voice I heard and you helped me when I didn’t even know my name. I was told by everyone else what my destiny was and what to do. That was enough until I started to reclaim some of my memory. Then bit by bit, I started to remember you and the champions. I didn’t remember everything, and I still don’t, but I knew I missed you and the others. I knew I wanted to save you and see you again.”

He paused, and turned his face toward the sky. I didn’t think he was going to speak again, but he did.

“Seeing you safe, healthy, and smiling. That’s been enough for me. More than enough. Even if I don’t remember, I know I did the right thing.” A small smile found itself on his face as he looked back at me.

I smiled back, feeling my heart pound in my chest as I met his blue eyes again. What he said made some of his behavior make more sense. He was still the old Link in the way that he was always striving to do good and how devoted he was to his duty. But he had also changed, he was taller, goofier, and talked more. The weight he felt of being the one who wielded the sword that sealed the darkness now gone as our destiny was behind us.

“Is that what you wanted to tell me earlier?” I asked him.

“Oh that? No. I’m still not ready for that.” He said, his eyes leaving mine for the ground.

“That’s okay. I can respect that.”

We sat in silence for a while as the weight of our conversation set in. I was happy we had made some progress, he hadn’t allowed me to talk about his memory before. But we were the only people who knew what the other person had gone through and it was time we began to heal. Together.

“I’m kind of hungry now, should we head back to the campsite?” I asked, standing up and offering my hand out toward him. He looked at my hand for a second before smiling and taking it.

And while I thought he would let it go after a moment, he didn’t. So, we walked hand in hand back to the campsite, with my hungry knight leading the way.

* * *

I was already awake before the first morning rays of sunshine, as the issues of last night did not allow me to rest in my sleep. I lay on my back in my sleeping bag and put my hands under my head. I looked up at the clear starry sky, which slowly gave way to the light of the sun.

"Zelda.” I whispered.

No reply. Just a soft breathing.

“Zelda.” I repeated, a little louder this time.

“Mmhm…?” she murmured sleepily.

“Wake up please, I have something to tell you that you should know.”

I felt Zelda slowly wake up beside me, but I couldn’t look her in the face. Even though I loved watching her sleep and wake up, my heart was too heavy.

“I’m awake now, what’s the matter Link?”

“Remember Kass the poet? He was the Sheikah Court Poet’s student.”

Beside me, I heard Zelda draw in a sharp breath. In my mind’s eye, I knew her big green eyes were wide and her mouth was half open. Still, I was unable to look at her.

She waited patiently for me to continue speaking.

“On my journey I met Kass very often, he sang me ballads of ancient times and helped me with the song lyrics to solve problems in the respective region. But his main task was to complete his master’s song. It was a tragic ballad about both of us, but it was mainly about you, to help me recover my memory. Eventually, I managed to help Kass collect ancient songs all over Hyrule, so he managed to complete the ballad.”

I exhaled heavily as thoughts about the verses kept circling in my head without finding an answer. 

“Link, you seem so tense… Is there something wrong with the ballad of Sakasai?”

An old, long-forgotten memory suddenly burst into my mind. A memory of Zelda and Sakasai standing close together, whispering and laughing, while Zelda had not even glanced at me. I was Zelda’s appointed knight and yet she didn’t want me around and always rejected me.

I swallowed hard.

“Kass told me that his master often told him how beautiful you had been - and still are. Kass said he would like to compose a song to match your beauty and wished to meet you one day.”

When Zelda still didn’t say anything after a while, I finally turned my head towards her. My gaze met her brimming eyes, waiting for the truth.

“Link, that can’t be all that’s bothering you - please tell me. What is it that you can’t tell me?”

“I… I… just can’t tell you it, Zelda. Please accept it. For now.”

Zelda frowned but nodded silently.

“About that song Kass wanted to write about me, I hope he is somewhere nearby! I am eager to hear, what he would sing about me, and how his music would sound. Please Link, please let me meet him!”

I looked at the beautiful face next to me, stared at her, without saying a word. I brushed a golden stray of her hair behind her ear and smiled.

“Of course, I will do that, why wouldn’t I want to let my princess become a song sung for future generations?”

She giggled and cuddled onto my arm, falling in a light sleep again, while I watched over her, as I did back then, now, and forever.


End file.
